Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Oh man... it was a hard day today and I had a hard word to go along with it!
My word was:

I did my very best to stay very up beat and not slough or drag myself around but I will tell ya it took concentration on that word!

I woke at 6:30 am
I got up and got dressed into my workout clothes
I did my level 3 / 4 Power 90 Strength workout and it was tough!
But I kept my word close to me and I gave it my all! Oh yes I did!
Then I had my shower which was wonderful!
Then took the puppies out and felt the warm breeze on my face!

Last night we went for our walk also, which was the first time we were able to go due to weather and my J hurt his toe also so we took it easy for a few days. But last night was just the right temperature and it was a lovely walk! Tonight however will not be a walking night as the humidity is ferocious and our Pug will not fare well tonight for a long walk! Plus... I don't think I would either if I were to be honest! LOL

Anyway, then I went to work
lifted 15 carboys from the floor onto the counter
made 20 wines
lifted 20 boxes of wine off the shelf
lifted 20 buckets of wine out of the sink and put them onto the cart
washed about 25 - 30 buckets and carboys
helped my J in the back to top up the wine which means I carried 6, 4 litre jugs of water

I ate:
A small sandwich
yoptimal
a banana
lots of water
2 pieces WW bread with lite Peanut butter
and that is all I had time for...
I have a lot of points to contend with tonight so better get started! LOL!

I took a sneak Peak of my weight this morning on the scale which I never recommend doing so I don't know why I looked but I seem to have gained? Hummmm? I will not be discouraged and I am still going to re-weigh on the correct day which is tomorrow and we'll see. I am definitely feeling stronger and maybe it is muscle that is weighing heavy on my scale? I plan to stay on the path and not get swayed. I know how hard I am working and how careful I am being with my eating so something has to turn around eventually! Let just keep looking ahead to the Teddy bear show and stay on course.

I should have taken my measurements as they are a better example of what is happening but I didn't... lazy is all. But I did it in the beginning and seeing as how I basically started all over I would say I can use those as a gage. I will take my measurements tomorrow as well to see if there are results there to share with you.

Now, as if I have any more to give today, I am going to keep my word close and go and make dinner. I will then work on my bears and watch a movie. And finally go to my bed at 10, lights out at 11 with no gagets! Yup, I'm still on that too!

Oh I should also mention that not only am I meeting my requirements for my points plus but I also get all my boxes checked. For those that are not familiar with Weight Watchers, that means that I get all my liquids, lean protein, fruits and veggies, whole grains, multivitamin and healthy oil in as well! Which essentially means I don't just eat junk and stay in my points range. I actually have always loved healthy food best so I am lucky that way! My doctor once told me that WW is the best program because it follows the guides of the Canadian food guide and simply makes you conscious of what you are eating.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Got up at 6:00am today and was ready to face my workout by 6:35 am! I stayed with the level 3, 4 and man did I work it today! I kicked, punched, ran, sweat, crunched, jumped... I did it with determination to get through that workout!

Then I went to the doctor for some blood tests and then home to get J to do some shopping. This years Teddy Bear Artist International is a Pirate themed event so we went in search of treasure today! We found some really great stuff!

Then Mum sent me a great gift of a groupon for the Body Shop and so I headed out to get some creams and peppermint foot scrub (my fave)!

Todays word is:

And so because I did such a fabulous job of my workout I got 5 points back and decided to treat myself to a 6" ham sub with lots of veggies. The bread was fresh out of the oven too... man was it delicious. I had a bottled water with that. Total points plus = 7. Then when I got home I had a bowl filled to the brim with fresh strawberries and low fat cool whip which came to only 1 points plus!

I have so many points left I thought I better have an early light dinner and had a cup of jasmine rice and 3 oz salmon. I love this meal and could eat this pretty much any time. It is light and fresh and so good for you. It came to 8 points plus!

I still have enough points to have another substantial meal a bit later on.

So right now I am working on bears and still stuffing heads and jointing. But I was out most of the day today. I actually think I am starting to feel different now, lighter in a way and maybe even am starting to see a bit of a difference but maybe not so much that I am smaller but a bit firmer.

So I am off to get some serious work done on the bears! I will have a few images for you soon!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Got up later today. Did my workout and bumped up to level 3 - 4 on the Power 90 DVD. It was tough but I got through it with the modification of staying on my knees for the push ups. I am really hungry today... I find it harder to stay on track on weekends with the food. When you are at work things are on such a schedule but when you are at home things are so accessible. I am still on track it's just I have to be really careful to make good choices. It's only 5:30pm and I have now eaten my dinner and only have one point left for the day. I am usually at this point around 9:00pm so ... you see what I mean. I do have my weekly extra points that I have not even touched but I really try not to.

I had a very creative day today working on bear after bear. Today I stuffed heads and sculpted fur, jointed the heads, attached ears and this will continue through till tonight and possibly tomorrow. I hope to get all the eyes in tomorrow and start on the noses... and maybe even some shading. Only 72 days left ... Currently I am just finishing up bear head # 4 (attaching the ears) and will be moving on the #5! I have 8 to complete altogether and two that are stuffed but no ears; a total of 10!

Not much else went on today. My Pug has an upset belly. He visited his grandma's house last night and had treats, eat a billion dandelion heads from your yard, had a small piece of my bread, and ate grass so one never knows what exactly went wrong but something did. Poor little man. He has stuck by me all day long.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

It was as Blissful as a work day can be. I has a lot of nice moments and listed to music off my ipod and worked on bears in between customers. We were really busy today so that was not a lot of time but some and every little bit helps me to get closer to my deadline goals! Doing my bears is always blissful to me so having the chance to work on them at all today at work was a really lovely element of my day.

I got up at 6:30 and did my workout - Sweat and am thinking I might try to bump up to level two next week? Maybe twice a week to start? This program is tough in the sense that there are NO DAYS OFF... ever! You have to do this every day and so the muscles are taxed continually. It does not seem like so much the first week but the second week seems more tiring and then possibly the third more again. I am much stronger than I was the first time I tried this program which was many years ago when I was a teacher. Now I have a job where I lift heavy things all day long and after 4 years of doing that I guess I have built up a tolerance for pain. LOL. Not really pain anymore but I am stronger.

Maybe I will try the level two weight workout tomorrow as it is the weekend and I can rest for the rest of the day if it wipes me out! Good plan!

I also did my sleep hygiene and was in bed on time with no devices and simply read my book for an hour until lights out! WOW... I am really liking it too and don't know that I will ever go back to a TV to sleep with! It has become a real ritual already and seems to really relax my mind and spirit tremendously!

The bears are really coming along! I have all of them jointed that I had started and will work on stuffing heads and sewing on ears, noses and putting in eyes this weekend. Only 73 more days till I leave for the show... I know it seems like a lot of time but I still have the gallery piece remember and I also like to hand make all or most of my accessories if I can so that takes up a ton of time also... time I love but when there is a deadline... not much else to be said really. Oh and I got the new tags all sewn in last night too! They look wonderful!

Food was okay today but seem to be in a craving mood so very dangerous at the moment! I have to be very controlled. I did not cheat and will not but it is so tempting sometimes! Thank God for Skinny Cow! LOL

So tomorrows word... you must be itchin' to know... hahahaha

1

Having the ability or power to create

2

Productive; creating

3

Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative

This one is a perfect one for me to have for tomorrow but I will try to also push my creativity on a different level!

Friday, May 27, 2011

I really like themes. I read something inspiring in my new book. the entry was titled - Naming the Day. So I decided to try it for a while. Not sure how long but I want to give it a shot. The idea is that you choose to create your day to lay out the way you want it to. Life cannot be controlled and things will happen but we can choose the way we approach those uncontrollable events.

I'm starting today with the letter A and working daily through the alphabet. It will be a great way to keep me focused also and make some really great choices on how I want my life to flow. I have also decided to keep a journal of my days to see how well I did with following my choice of word for each day. Should be fun!

It basically works like this: You either name your day before you got to bed for the next day or the morning of your day... I chose to name mine last night. Day one for me is "Attentive" That means for the rest of today I am going to try and incorporate the attributes of this word in the way my day unfolds. I will be attentive today in as many ways as I can.

Definition:

1

mindful, observant

2

heedful of the comfort of others

3

offering attentions in or as if in the role of a suitor

You can choose any words you like. Following the alphabet just seemed easier for me and it stretches your vocabulary a bit too. I will post my word each day also so you can see it and if you want to follow my words that is also fine. There are no rules for choosing the words to name your day: if you choose laughter, joy, or hilarity your day will play out very different than if you choose words like caring, passion, or devotion. You understand right? Now I have to go find a journal that is currently not in use for something. I am writing this down in the morning and I will tell you how the day went later today. And YES I got up and did my Power 90 workout but I have not eaten as yet so there is nothing to write about that!

It is now evening and I am now home from a long hard day at work. Not only was it Friday which is terribly busy at the best of times but we also received a two skid order in that I unloaded alone. I did my very best to be attentive today as I always do but it can be hard when there is so very much to be done.

It is nice to be home!

I received my new tags that I had made for my bears - sew in ones. I never found any until now that I liked. These are fabulous and I am simply thrilled with them. I would like to show them to you but I cannot currently. I will photograph them as soon as I can, hopefully sometime this weekend or at least take a close up when the next bear is ready to be photographed.

I am tired. I had to do my Strength workout this morning and then all that lifting at work which I was not expecting today... probably best that I wasn't too. I just tried not to think about it and got it done.

I have to work tomorrow too but Saturdays tend to be my favourite day at work. It has a different feel and definitely a lighter one. So I thought I would also share with you tomorrows word for the day in case any of you want to use my words too. So I will post the last word I used at the beginning of each blog post and tell you how it all turned out and then at the end of each blog post I will post the new word for the following day... sound good?

Everything went well today with my workout and tomorrow I sweat! Food was nothing to speak of really... soup, salad, low sugar oatmeal for breakfast... nothing fancy although tonight I might indulge in a nice Skinny Cow!

I really want to get to my machine and get some sewing done before I cannot from being too tired so I am off for tonight. I will be back tomorrow with bells on and a smile too.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Last night I started my new program which included going to bed early.
Hygiene for the mind, body and soul...
I was in bed by 10:00pm and had no TV, Radio or any other device on.
I did read my book for about a half hour with the windows open and the
fresh air falling across the pages and my face. I was a glorious evening
with the promise of rain hidden in the freshness of the breeze.
I have not gone to bed without man made noise of some kind in a very long
time. I slept so well that I plan to make this a normal part of my life.

The book I am currently reading was lent to me by my Mum who received it
as a gift from a friend. It is called Simple Retreats for a Woman's Soul.
It is exactly what is states and is an absolute must for everyone who wants
to relax for even 5 minutes, who wants to feel, who wants to love, cry,
laugh, who wants to be touched by life. Check it out if you haven't already!

The entries from the book that I read last night were about tea. I was so inspired
by them I brought my tea pot to work today and made a pot of Jasmine tea.
I love Jasmine, the smell is so soothing and it has such a delicate flavour. It
was wonderful!

The other book I am currently "reading" is called Bitten. It was recommended to me
by a very dear friend who thought I might enjoy this authour if I had not already been
introduced to her. I had not and I must say I AM loving the book. I often listen to it
(on my Ipod) at work while I am cleaning buckets or making wine. It keeps my head in a healthy and
imaginative place. I find my stress levels have all but disappeared completely. WOW!
It is incredible what a good book can do.

I got up at 6:30am as usual and with a great nights sleep under my belt
I sweat and worked that workout HARD! It was fun! WHAT? Did I say that?
FUN? Working out FUN? Where's the pod? No ... but seriously, I was looking
forward to being able to tell you all that I made it out to another day!
If any of you are out there waiting and you want to change your life... start
now. Start tomorrow! START! YOU CAN DO IT!

I need a new sports bra! Seriously, I am putting it out there... if anyone knows of one that really is great and works for a gal that has something on top please let me know. Mine are just not doing the job!

I got two noses embroidered today and will work on eyes tonight. Its a bit terrible weather wise so it looks like it is another stay at home night... I miss my evening walk with the puppies. We'll see... maybe we can get out tonight. The two newest bears are almost completed and have been named : Lilian and Eddard.

Tomorrow is Power 90 Sculpt and a new day for the new 10 Day Reboot Camp program... not sure what is in store for me tomorrow but I'm ready! Do any of you watch the Biggest Looser? Wow! What an incredible transformation on the sisters and everyone for that matter! Now that is inspiration!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Today was a tough day!
Woke up due to my J's cell phone at 5:30am
I was very unhappy about this as it was not enough time to go back to sleep if I wanted to get my workout started at 7:00am...
Because once the doggies were awake they wanted to go outside...
and that meant they would not wake me at 6:30am...
which meant I would sleep past my workout time and I could not take the chance so early in the game
So I got up!
I did my workout
I thought "Okay I will get up, do my workout and then go back to bed for an hour"
But then my cat started to have a Barfing fit. He has a very weak tummy (Poor little man) and so that went on for three sessions and then guess what...
it was time to get into the shower and get ready to head off to work.
However... I did get my workout done! Hahahahaha

Today was weigh in day and I am happy to announce that I have lost the first 2 pounds! Might not sound like a lot but think of it this way... If every week goes like this from now until the bear show in August I will have lost 22 pounds... which is actually more than I want to loose so if the odd week I loose a little less it will be perfect! So that was inspiring!

Trying to type this... I should have left it with all the spelling and typo's so you could see for yourselves what rough shape I am in today. It is incredible what too little sleep will do to the brain. I plan on an early bed night tonight.

I am also planning to start a routine called 10 DAY REBOOT CAMP for mind body and spirit: It starts with being in bed by 10pm will all devices off and sleeping by 11pm (Sleep Hygiene). Currently I sleep with the TV on set to go off on a timer. My magazine subscription that I won at one of the trade shows : "Whole Living" (one of the best magazines I have ever gotten I might add and I definitely plan to renew my subscription when it ends!) always has these fabulous things you can do to eat better or take care of you better and this month they have a workout for your whole being not just weight loss and this is one of the elements of this routine... sounds intreguing especially after a sleep deprived night last night so I thought I would give it a shot.

But for now it is off to work on some bears!

Oh, what did I eat today:
WW toast x 2 with lite Cheese Wiz 4 pt plus
Egg Creations (1/4 cup) 1 pt plus
Cucumber salad with lite creamy cucumber dressings 1 pt plus
Tomato sandwich on WW toast with no fat Miracle Whip 2 pt plus
1 Banana - FREE
1 Tbs lite Peanut Butter - 2 pt plus
1/2 glass skim milk - 1 pt plus
Smart Ones frozen pepperoni pizza - 11 pt plus (this one is really fab if you are craving something not so good for you. When I am tired there is always this danger lurking. Not sure why but tired and junk food seem to go hand in hand for me so these little pizza's are a great cushion just in case.)
That was about it today and I will have dinner later on.
I still had 48 extra points left over this month that I could have used but did not need to! Not bad huh!

Have a great night... I am off to watch the last episode of Oprah and cry and sew. Oprah and crying go hand in hand especially when I am tired! Hahahahaha

PS. The squirrels are digging up my "Diane's Garden". We had to lay a piece of lattice over the top of the planter tonight!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

One correction written yesterday: The seeds that I planted came from Diane herself not her son.

Now onto today:
Got up at 6:30 and got into my workout gear
Did my PW90 workout and the sweat was pouring off - today was cardio day!
Had a nice shower and then off to work
I made sure to make my sandwich last night and had a lovely salad ready as well with a homemade dressing with one tsp of olive oil!
You still have to get your oil in and I also wanted to comment that in previous posts I have mentioned that I do not like FAT FREE! I have in the last few posts mentioned that I have been using FAT FREE Miracle Whip but I want to point out that I have this left over and will not purchase more... I am just using it up in other words because as much as I don't like that stuff I dislike waste more!

So it was a semi busy day but not as busy as usual at work!
I managed to get some paws pinned into the bears so that means I can just go straight to the sewing machine after dinner tonight and get to work.

This is where I start to panic a bit: I have two deadlines coming up in August and no bears are completed! They are all in mid-completion and unless I see that they are done and ready for the show I get a bit itchy! So needless to say I have no plans other than workouts and bears for the next little while! Hahahaha

I wanted to mention a new treat I found recently in the grocery store. I have had it before but not packaged in a single package like this. Normally I don't think small packages of food are a good way to go. I feel you can do that yourself at home and leave a smaller footprint; however in this case I have a real weakness in the summer in particular for ICE CREAM! So purchasing a single serving is a very SAFE thing for me to do. Then there is no more in the house to be tempted by! LOL!

It is Skinny Cow and so far I have tried the Chocolate Fudge Brownie and the Cookie Dough and they are FAB! I mean it! They lack in nothing except calories! And honestly once done my single serving I am satisfied that I got to have my ice cream.... even though it is just skim milk.

I also realized something else today: I like my morning workouts because I get a full 24 hours in-between workouts as you always would if you workout once a day at the same time every day but the difference of working out in the morning is that you are doing it after a full night of sleep and not after a full day of work! With the exception of last night where I got up at least 10 times to visit the ladies room! LOL. I am drinking a lot of water and my body is in shock and cannot seem to handle it! LOL! So today I drank most of my water intake before noon in hopes of a better nights sleep tonight!

Okay so tomorrow is day 7 and that means the fist week is completed and that means it will be time to hit the scale! I hope to have lost something but I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED if I have not! I promise to stick to it even if the scale is unkind to me tomorrow!

Tonight is BBQ Porkchops and potatoes and veggies! Yummy! I love summer for the fresh veggies!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Day 5 and woke up wanting nothing but bad things to eat.
I got into my workout clothes and by 9:30am I was sweating with Tony!
By the time I was done, the last thing I wanted was bad things to eat!
Yippppeee!
Today was rainy and windy with breaks of sunshine - but few of those!
We made it to the dog park so the babies could run like the wind
made it back to the car just in time - then the storm hit
I worked on paws - incredible isn't it... this is day 3 of paws! But I am finally starting to sew them into the bears! Yipppeee!
Made sandwiches for tomorrow as Tuesdays are super busy and my J hardly has time to eat so sandwiches is the solutions and seems to be working great!
Made a special sandwich for me for tomorrow too... no fat miracle whip and egg on WW bread! A nice 4 pt plus sandwich!
I had egg creations for breakfast and added losts of veggies - actually J made it for me! and two pieces of WW bread with margarine for a nice 5 pt!
For lunch I had a cucumber salad and a tuna sandwich.
You have got to stay ahead on this planning or you can fall off the wagon super easy!
I actually meant to eat more today but was busy... this can also be bad as I have a lot of points left for today!
I also had a banana, Yoptimal, and watermelon!
Tonight we will be dining on Asian homemade beef done in the slow cooker all day...
also a very hard thing to do when you are watching what you eat and have to smell that cooking all day long! LOL! We will be having Jasmine rice with the meal also!
Might get a walk in yet tonight but not too sure... maybe up the big bridge to see the fireworks but depends on the rain!

DIANE's Garden:

My Mum's very dearest friend past away earlier this year and one of the things my Mum requested from her only son was some seeds from Diane's garden. Diane knew me from the time I was in junior high but when I left Calgary after high school I only saw her but a handful of times! Diane had the most infectious laugh and was so much fun to be around. My Mum and her use to make chocolates, B52 shooters and were both stain glass makers also just to name a few fun things. I didn't know how to say goodbye to her after not seeing her for so many years so I didn't.

I sent messages often with my Mum but could not come up with a way to say goodbye. I guess I just didn't want to and that is not to say I did not love her... in fact it is to say I did!

This weekend my J built us a special place to plant the seeds that my Mum shared with me that came from Black Hollyhocks that grew in Diane's garden in Calgary! Some people plant these in the fall but our winters are cold and long so we opted for this weekend to plant ours in order to give them a nice strong root base so they will hopefully make it through the winter this year. By next year we should have a beautiful bunch of Black flowers to remind us always of this wild and fun lady that shared time with us along her journey! I will have a nice sign made up that says "Diane's Garden" next year when the flowers are ready to come!

Thank you to my Mum,to my J and to Diane's son Aaron for sharing these seeds with my Mum and I. I will cherish this place in my backyard and think of her every day!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Got up at 6:30 am
too sore to do anything
fed puppies
took out puppies
went back to sleep
woke up in a panic
thought it was noon
it was actually 9:30am
did my power 90 workout
ate my breakfast
worked on paws
walked to grocery store - 40 minutes there and back
got a point back for that! Yippeee!
worked on paws
still working on paws
ate dinner - 1 cup pasta, 3 oz BBQ chicken, Frank's Hot Sauce - Yummy
Had two salads and fruit today and lots of water!
Going to work on more paws
see you tomorrow!

PS. If anyone out there is interested in getting a beautiful drawing done of their bear... visit Patti at Patti's Paw Prints!

Patti is one of my favorite bear makers and has just found herself out of a job. She would love to do some drawings for anyone who might be interested!

Also don't forget that I have a free giveaway comin up! A mini Seraphim Bear named FIZZER. Just enter your comment etc on the blog post about him and I will put you on the list of potential parents to be!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Remember I said I worked on bear paws yesterday
Remember I said I was tired yesterday
working on bear paws + tired don't match up
I sewed all the bear paws for my trapunto paws and then cut the right side of the paw
on all of them on my tired day.
In other words I had to re-sew all of them!

I got up this morning 6:30am
took out puppies and fed them
lay on the couch while they ate and watched TV - News
Puppies came to lay with me
I got up off my butt at 7:00am and did Power 90 level one strength workout - +3 pt plus
I woke J to go to Garage sales
I had a shower
I ate a Yoptimal - 2 pt plus and no artificial sugar! These are my faves!
We drove around to garage sales before heading into work
Bought a doll making book for $2
Got to work
Sewed some paws
Lifted 4 buckets of wine
Ate 2 WW bead - with tomato and canned salmon and calorie wise miracle whip - 7 pt plus
Left work
Came home and sat in the backyard with puppies and stuffed paws
Ate a Smart Ones Fettuccine dinner - 8 pt plus
Went for 20 minute walk with puppies and J around the Zwicks park trail - +1 pt plus

So beautiful and puppies so happy which makes me sooooo happy too
About to eat BBQ chicken, salad and not sure what else yet...
Will stuff paws and watch a movie

Friday, May 20, 2011

Today I have decided to start a daily account and it will hopefully run on here for the next 82 days. I am hoping that this will help me to stay focused and honest and keep me motivated as I have fallen off the wagon with my workouts and weight loss also. So I thought it might be fun to write down what I did each day on here for the next 82 days... why 82 days? Well that is when I leave for my trip to Binghamton NY for the Teddy Bear Artists Invitational and so after that I am sure I will have a ton to post about the show itself.

You have all seen the before photos and not much has changed but I have done it before and I know I can again... I just need to find that inspiration. So I am hoping that my daily post will do the trick as well as the show coming up and my cousin is preggers with twins and this will surely mean a family get together soon enough... so I would like to be looking better and feelin better by then too!

Okay so are you with me? Here is my first entry of THIS BLOG IS MAKIN' ME TIRED!

Here is what I did today:

Got up after a long night of making bears and took the puppies out to the backyard
I fell back to sleep on the couch until my hubby woke me at 8:15am (that's late for me)
I went to work and lifted about 4 buckets of wine, and 4 carboys of wine and washed 20 wine buckets.
I walked back and forth approximately 80 times throughout the day the length of our store
I stuffed a bear paw or two in-between but not much as Fridays and Tuesdays are our busiest days and there is not much time for anything but working.
I did not sit down from 9am till 4pm except for 2 minutes x 3 to stuff a toe
I carried my bags to the car
J drove us home and I took the puppies out to the backyard
I came in while they were having their dinner outside and started my first workout in a month - Power 90 level one with Tony Horton
I sweat
I wined
I punched
I kicked
I drank water
I washed my face
I stretched
I got J from basement and we went to the waterfront trail for a long 20 minute walk with the puppies - this is my gift to me for getting through my workout

We went to the dog park - I truly love to see the smiles on my puppies faces! A great reward for making it through the workout today!
My pug laid in a mud puddle
We came home
I washed the pug
I made a Healthy Choice Steamer - Balsamic Chicken and Angel Hair Pasta - 5 Pt plus (this one was very tasty. I don't eat these often but have a lot to do tonight)
Oh ya... I also started to track today (New Weight Watchers Points Plus) I still have 11 points to use up today so I will eat some more soon!
I came to type this blog
Now I will go work on bear paws
then a well deserved bath
then to bed at around midnight
With the bear show deadline now looming and only 82 days to go there is much to be done!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I don't know if all of you will know of this rather interesting phenomenon that occurs in England but as you know my background is British as my Mum was born in London and thought she might like to take on the task of creating her first pearly jacket! For those of you who are not familiar, this is a HUGE undertaking and takes hundreds and sometimes thousands of pearly buttons to create these very elaborate articles of clothing that they wear: Below is an entire society or Pearly Kings and Queens... Aren't they spectacular!

My Mum has just about completed her first Pearly Jacket with the exception of the steeple on Big Ben. It has taken many many hours to create this sensation which includes ripping and resewing to make things lay out just right.

Bravo Mum! I think she has done an absolutely splendid job of this Jacket... One for me next A Mum! LOL!

Notice that the Big Ben time is set to around 3:00pm... tea time in England! Attention to detail... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as they say! I wonder how many buttons are on this coat?

Don't forget also that I have a Free Giveaway of a mini Seraphim Bear ~ FIZZER to be drawn on Canada Day July 1st so just head over to the post and leave me a comment if you would like to have a chance to win!

Monday, May 16, 2011

We have been having the most terrible weather lately and this is never conducive to a nice Italian Greyhound visit but they are so rare that we decided to continue with the plans to have our very dear friends visit and still hold a BBQ.
It is quite common for us to have a get together at our local park for Pug Days but there are no IG's (Italian Greyhounds) in our town so this spectacle rarely occurs. My best girl has my Jonesy's cousin as her pal and has now adopted another IG to go along with him after loosing her beloved Chacha. This little girl is a gift to all of us as she is spicy! Her personality is Greyhound plus and she was a joy to hold in our arms. I think I was smiling all day just as much as my Jonesy was.

We are planning these get togethers with T and M and their babies including of course their human baby F throughout the Spring and Summer so that we can take care of their 2 IGs for a week in October. We want to make sure everyone is on the same schedule. If you don't know much about the IG they make a fabulous companion and were originally bread to be bed warmers. This means that when the angels come to stay our bed will be blessed with 4 doggies and me and J. Hahahahahah Luckily we do have another bed in case we need to split up!

Anyway here are some photos of the first IG visit for this preparation! I am actually hoping that these visits will put us all into the habit of doing this on a more regular basis. I would love to seem my friend more than twice a year! HINT HINT if you're reading this T! LOL!

It is very hard to photograph most IGs as they have constant movements to them unless they are sleeping (Which they are very serious about!) They need little exercise for a few sprinting moments and then would very much appreciate it if you would join them in a snuggle on the couch or bed!

So here is my Jonesy in the background and cousin Milo in the forground. These two love each other so much and remember spending the early days of their lives together. They had so much fun yesterday ripping around the backyard together and really giving their engines a good full run. Unfortunately I could not risk taking my camera outside in the rain to show you all but next visit I hope it will be sunny and I can post a video!

MILO

MILO AND NOLA

Milo is considered a very rare IG and is super tiny! Nola is just a baby at only 6 months and is already much taller and larger than him. Nola is the skinniest of all three of them and dainty in her sleek physique.

NOLA

So after a day full of running and playing with the long legged friends and family we were all a bit tuckered out... especially the honorary IG, our Pug, The Butcher...

TOBY 2012

TOBY 2011

Welcome to my blog! My name is Michele Seraphim and I am a teddy bear artist. My bears are made of mohair, alpaca or viscose and all made in the olde world way. I am here to share my world, spread my wings and hopefully encourage you to do the same. Thank you for coming by to spend some quality time with me!